Adjustable building pier



Filed June 28, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l a 0 I v m I I 7 V n 4 n P- k J i n L A 41% .1 MM. 5%.062WM. a I m m m a a u a a Junentor lYOZ/M/ 6T BZACK attorney June 6, 1950 N. s. BLACK ADJUSTABLE BUILDING PIER 2 Sheets-Shea 2 Filed June 28, 1945 NOLA/V6. MACK (Ittomeg Patented June 6, 1950 AT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE BUILDING PIER Nolan S. Black, Highland Park, Mich, ,assignor to Nati nal St orpo at on, a orp t of Delaware Application June 28, 1945, Serial No. 602,016

pprrtsiorlbuildings.

n the pa adjustable shorin r pp have been provided for leveling buildings at the time .of their construction and ,for releveling where shi ting or sinkin of :the ea th us s a building to settle with accompanying danger of the building walls orackingand ,door and window (frames warping. .9116 :known type of adjustable build g upport inc udes a number of radially spaced, individually operable adjustment screws ,by meanszof which ,an axially-movable supporting ub m unted the eonma e mov d vertical y.

Thissu port is. notonly ob ect o able be ause o .the large number of partsit comprises but,i-n addition, the several individually adjustable screws are not easily properlyadjustable with the result .that the supporting tube maybe canted settin up undesirable frictional forces, stresses and strains. ,Another typ rof diusta u ldin support is yerticallyadjusted:asingle adjustment not but, this type of support is notentirely sat isfactory since theentire .upper, vertically movable structure is supported on a wedge-like-vertircally adjustable .key h v g y reason of the pa ticular structure and arrangement of parts, an undesirably relatively small supporting surface for the large upperstructure. Furthermore, because oi the .heavy loads on these supports, the wedge-like key would .ja'rn with the part seating thereon making it diflicult to removethe key for additional verticaladjustment thereof. In addition, this type of supportentails a large number of 7 parts with ,corresponding manufacturing expense.

Accordingly, it isone of the objectsof the present invention to prov-ideiorbuildings, a newand improved adjustable support of simplified and. low cost construction.

, Another object of :the invention is to provide a new and improved adjustable support which may be readily positioned beneath abuildingand quickly adjusted to level-the building. A further obj ect of the inventionresides in the relative arrangement of the parts of the adjust able support in the provision of apracticaL eflicientand inexpensive device. 1

Other objects of ;the invention will become ,appa n m th following deta led desc pti n taken in connecti n with th accompa ying d awin sin h:

Figure .1 .isa view in v r al entral section of nor improred adjustablebuiloing support;

Figure 2 is a plan ,view of the adjustable support;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of thesupport taken along the line 3 3 of Figure 1,; and,

Figure 4 is .a view of ,a part of the support shown removed therefrom.

Referring to thedrawings bycharacters-.0.. reference, the adjustable support includes .abase I0, which, as shown, may be a metallic casting or the base may be formed of ;concrete or ,any other suitable material. Preferably, the base 1. includes a lower and suitably large outturned flange I I to provide an adequate seating surface .to rest on the ground and extending upwardly and centrally fromthebase flange ll there isan integral, cylindrical or tubular base portion 12. In the side wall of the tubular base portion l2 is provided a plurality of vertically spaced steps having upwardly facing seating surfaces 13 formed by external annulargrooves 1.3 in the outer wall surface of the tubular portion 12.

,,A s pp rtin or hear ng member l p fe ab y a w p split r ng. surrounds or encircles-the tubular base portion 12 and may be positioned in anyone of the grooves l3 forsupport on ,the base ata desired height. The ring I4 has an outer edee der port n xtendin outw rdly fromthe outer wall surface of the tubular portion 2 providin an upward y a in s at and large annular bearing surface i5 .foran intermediate supp rtin and adjustmen mem er 16 which is rotatable thereon. Preferably, the intermediate supporting member I6 is in the form of an open:- ended tube having an internal diameter large u h so t t the tube .will fit ove th 'up er hdo' the tu u a ase portion [2 withsufli'cient clearance so as to be freely rotatable relative th e o. T e supportin member J5 isprovided .with a lower end portion 1 of ,enlargeddiameter to obtain an internal,downwardly,facingannular seat or shoulder [8 for seating on theupwarglly c n a 15 of therip 14- elow he ripe It, e side wa l of the tu u a member .15 provided with a pair of diametrically opposed threaded apertures .to receive screws HY-which extend below and adjacen the .uhdersideoithe rin M to serve as stops to limit-u ward move ment o the tubu armember ,l 16- An upper supp rti m mb r .20, .carried by and mounted on the up er end f the inte me iate suppo n .member 16,, compr se a 10.1- low ,boss or tubular port on Z ohavne an u er ou turned continuous flange to ov at ing surface forstringersneof the floor gsv lolil i e, oi the building. The :boss .31 i ip eierablr internally threaded to receive an externally threaded upper end portion of the intermediate tubular member l6 which, upon rotation in one direction, causes the upper supporting membe [6 to be moved bodily and vertically upward. Pairs of diametrically aligned holes 24 may be provided in the side wall of the tubular member I6 to receive a suitable tool (not shown), such as a metallic rod, by which the tubular member [6 may be easily rotated. In the flange 22 of the upper support 20, apertures are provided to receive screws 25 for securing the support to the wooden stringers 23 of a building.

In using the above described adjustable support, the base it may be positioned or set on a roughly leveled area of the ground with the split ring M in the desired groove of the base for rough or approximate height adjustment and with the rotatable adjustment tube It seating thereon. Then with the use of a suitable tool, such as a steel rod insertable in the aligned apertures 24 of the tubular adjustment member It, the tubular adjustment member is rotated until the upper surface of the upper support 2!! is brought up against the underside of the floor stringers 23. During this operation, vertical movement of the adjustment tube It is prevented by the stop screws l9 engaging the underside of the ring member [4 so that upward lineal movement only is imparted to the upper support 20. With the upper surface of the upper support 29 in contact with the building stringer 23, the screws 25 are applied to secure the upper support to the building, thus holding this part against rotation. By

means of the bar or other suitable tool, the tubular adjustment member I6 is further rotated in a direction to impart upward movement to the upper support 2!], thus to raise the building at this point. There will, of course, usually be several of these adjustable supports for a building and when necessary, each or all of them may be adjusted, as required, to level the building and thus prevent cracked building walls, etc.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided for buildings, an adjustable support of simplified, inexpensive construction and one which is easy to apply and operate. The simplicity of construction, it will be seen, is due partly to the arrangement of the parts whereby the ring serves not only as a vertically adjustable seat for the upper movable structure but in addition also serves to support directly as a bearing the entire upper structure of the device on a large, continuous supporting surface and further, cooperates with the stop screws to restrain uplward movement of the tubular adjustment member. Vertical lineal movement of the upper supporting member 20 will result from rotation of the tubular adjustment member l6 because of the stop screws l9 engaging the underside of the split ring 14, restraining or limiting upward movement or movement other than rotative movement of the adjustment member I6.

I claim:

1. In an adjustable building support, a base having an upwardly extending wall portion provided with a plurality of vertically spaced steps, a movable supporting member selectively positioned on one of the steps of the base portion, a rotatable member seating on the supporting member, an upper supporting member carried by the rotatable member and having a seating surface for the building, cooperable means on th upper supporting member and on the rotatable supporting member imparting vertical movement to the 4 upper supporting member upon rotation of the rotatable member, and stop means carried by the rotatable member for engaging the movable supporting member to restrain other than rotative movement of the rotatable member.

2. In an adjustable building support, a base having an upwardly extending portion provided with vertically spaced steps, a seat member positioned on a selected step of the upwardly extending portion of the base, an intermediate supporting member telescoping with the upwardly extending portion of the base and rotatable relative thereto, the intermediate supporting member having a downwardly facing seating surface resting on the seat member, an upper supporting member providing a seating surface for the building, the upper supporting member being supported by the intermediate supporting member, means on the upper supporting member and on the intermediate supporting member cooperably moving the upper supporting member vertically upon rotation of the intermediate supporting member, and stop means restraining vertical movement of the intermediate supporting memher.

3. In an adjustable building support, a base having an upwardly extending cylindrical portion and having vertically spaced annular grooves in the outer wall surfaces thereof, a rotatable tubular member telescoping with the cylindrical portion, the tubular member having a downwardly facing seating surface, an upper supporting member carried by the rotatable tubular member, means for vertically adjusting the upper supporting member relative to the rotatable tubular member upon rotation of the tubular member, and a split ring interposed between the downwardly facing seating surface of the rotatable tubular member and a selected groove of the upwardly extending cylindrical portion.

4. In an adjustable building support, a base having an upstanding cylindrical portion provided witha plurality of vertically spaced annular grooves in the outer wall thereof, a rotatable tubular member fitting over the cylindrical portion and having a downwardly facing seat, a split ring selectively positioned in one of the grooves, the ring having an outer border portion extending outwardly from the outer wall surface of the cylindrical portion to provide an abutment on which the downwardly facing seat of the rotatable tubular member rests, an upper supporting member mounted on the rotatable tubular member, means for vertically moving the upper supporting member relative to and by rotation of the rotatable tubular member, and retainer means carried by the rotatable tubular member and engageable with the ring to limit relative vertical movement between the rotatable tubular member and the base.

5. In an adjustable building support, a base having an upstanding cylindrical portion provided with vertically spaced grooves in the outer wall surface thereof, a split ring selectively positioned in one of the grooves of the cylindrical portion, the split ring having an outer border portion projecting from the outer surface of the cylindrical portion to provide a seating surface, an open ended rotatable tubular member fitting over the cylindrical portion of the base, the tubular member having an enlarged lower end portion providing an internal downwardly facing seating surface resting on the outer border portion of the split ring, the tubular member having an upper threaded end portion, and an upper supporting member providing a seating surface for a building and screw threaded for cooperation with the upper threaded end portion of the tubular member.

6. In an adjustable support for buildings, a base having a plurality of vertically spaced seating surfaces, an intermediate supporting member rotatable relative to the base, an upper supporting member carried by the intermediate supporting member, means associated with the intermediate supporting member and with the upper supporting member cooperably moving the upper supporting member vertically upon rotation of the intermediate supporting member, a height adjustment member seating directly on one of the vertically spaced seating surfaces and providing a bearing surface for directly supporting the intermediate supporting member, and stop means carried by the intermediate supporting member and engaging the height adjustment member to restrain vertical movement of the intermediate supporting member.

. NOLAN S. BLACK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,819,1'73 Hunley et a1. Aug. 18, 1931 1,848,476 Hall Mar. 8, 1932 2,294,745 Goetz Sept. 1, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 44,806 Austria Nov. 10, 1910 347,010 France Feb. 20, 1905 

